[Liam_86]

Morning all

I have just got into this small holding lark and now have 6 pigs and a few hens and ducks. Now im wanting to tackle growing my own Veg

Im not a great gardener so im looking for some advice of what to plant now, both indoor (inside my house not a tunnel) and outdoor. I dont have much space so i want easy to grow, that will give big crops in a small space. I just want everything dont i? haha

Thanks in advance

Liam

[Clarebelle]

I would start with deciding what you would actually eat/use. e.g. if you don't like peppers theres not much point growing them!

Indoor - herbs, salad leaves and chilis I like to grow indoors, they do well in pots and look nice.

For starting outdoors - wow, there is such a lot I could say. I would probably suggest deciding which veg you would like to grow and then looking into that veg and how to grow it and using that information to plan your veg garden. To maximise space you can plant slow growing crops alongside fast growing crops, the idea being that the fast crops are ready to harvest before the slow ones need the space/soil.

Definately plan aswell, do a sketch of your plot so that you know where you are going to leave paths etc. Your need access to your crops for weeding and harvesting.

Sorry I havent been very specific but its such a vast subject! Good luck with it though, let us know how you get on!

[Marlboro]

Whats your soil like, acid  etc, sand, clay. All of these things make a difference. What height are you at, which way does the land face, where is the prevailing wind. How much can you realistically dig and prepare for this season. Stick to simple things, peas beans, courgettes, cabbages if your soil is limey or add lime.
I have always grown veg, we moved here 3 years ago onto clay, new project for me. It's hard work. last year I drowned most things, double digging turned the beds into swimming pools and the rain could not escape, even the potatoes had blackleg. Spent a lot of time digging ditches out of the corners of beds to try to let the water out but it just kept on raining
Trying again this year of course hoping for better weather.

[Fleecewife]

I would start with just a few different things, otherwise you could end up with nothing. 
 
If I had very limited space, I wonder what I would grow     I think I would always grow a few potatoes as they are so magical to dig up, and homegrown new potatoes are on a different plane to ones which have sat in a sack in the shop for a week.  They are also fairly foolproof - well, apart from frost and blight and scab and blackleg and ............. But mostly they are very easy, especially in your first year.
 
I would also always grow Sugar Snap peas, where you eat the whole pod once it's swollen with peas (unlike mangetout where you eat the pods while still flat)  Go for a dwarf one such as Quartz, as some varieties are many feet tall, so require complicated support.
 
I grow ordinary podding peas, but only enough to graze on whilst working in the garden, or to use fresh in salads - too much of a fandango to prepare for several platesful.
 
I always grow some beans of some sort.  Broad beans are hardy and very easy to grow but are an acquired taste.  Runner beans are always described as easy, but where I live (high, cold and draughty) they are hard to grow and I have them inside my polytunnel.  French beans are probably the easiest, and the dwarf type probably simpler for your first year.  They, like runner beans, are frost tender, so don't sow them when the soil is still cold.  They grow and crop quite quickly so can safely be sown in early June.
 
I love a few carrots to eat raw, but concentrate mainly on a large variety of salad crops, salad leaves and lettuce, cucumbers (not really for your first year or without cold protection), peppers and chillies (under protection or indoors), beetroot, mizuna and so on.  Tomatoes need protection in most of Britain, but if you want some choose a variety which claims to do well outdoors.  As well as my tunnel variety (Sakura) I am growing one - can't remember it's name just now but will modify this if I find the packet - which is recommended for containers and specifically for outdoors     You can start off tomatoes indoors on a windowsill, then plant them out after the last frost.
 
I would always grow some winter brassicas, for me purple sprouting broccoli and kale are indispensable - they can be sown from late April to mid May to give them time to grow to a decent size before winter gets here, but they are winter hardy.
 
You can grow herbs in pots both indoors and in any small sunny space in the garden - they lift a plain salad to something special and are wonderful in cooking.
 
Those are my essentials for starters.

[HesterF]

All I can say if what I grow - mainly because it's what we eat.

I've always grown tomatoes - whether in pots when I had zero ground space or in beds. With small beds I've also grown lettuce, carrots, beetroot and onions because I reckon those offer the best returns for space. Also love fresh peas and a few dwarf french bean plants go a long way. With a little more space, a courgette plant gives you tons of courgettes (more than enough for our family). I have always tried to fit sweetcorn in as well - it is amazing fresh - but you need space for a stand of a few plants and they do get very tall. I also love growing pumpkins and squashes but they do need loads of room (and my husband can't understand it - as he pointed out, we don't really eat that much of them, its just I love growing them).

Now with a lot more space I've quite a few potatoes in and will be attempting cabbages, cauliflowers, brussels and broccoli. We'll see how those go. Also considering an asparagus bed and a big area to feed my pumpkin fetish.

I also play with other stuff - tried scorzonera one year (never again, don't like it and it spread everywhere), sweet peppers (good results but labour intensive because they need to be warm so I was moving them in and out every day although I am growing them again this year, now I have a summer house to keep them in), chillies (ditto), aubergines (again need warmth). I'm also growing garlic for the first time this year. I've never tried cucumbers, they sound really complex.

You don't mention fruit but strawberries, raspberries and currants are great value and easy to grow too if you have the space. Oh, and herbs, find space for herbs somewhere.

Good luck with the planning - as the others have said, grow things you want to eat first and foremost. And if things don't work one season, don't abandon them forever. Some years you get an amazing crop of something, then the next you'll get nothing. Many are very weather dependent so don't assume that it's your soil or location - I've had bumper years of beetroot and sweetcorn followed by terrible years in the same location.

H

[Liam_86]

some fantastic ideas team thanks very much, you have also given me plenty to think about

Im gonna have a try with Pototoes suger snap peas, swiss chard and purple sproating brocolli as well as some chilli's and herbs inside

Thanks all

[Fleecewife]

Sounds a good selection.  Good luck with it and let us know how you get on